(CNN) – Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus framed Tuesday's recall election in Wisconsin as a referendum on the Democratic Party that he said will face further obstacles in the presidential election if incumbent Republican Gov. Scott Walker is victorious.

"If Walker wins next Tuesday, which we are very confident he will, Obama's going to have a much tougher road ahead in Wisconsin this fall," Priebus said Wednesday on a conference call with reporters of the state Obama won by almost 15% in 2008. "Certainly if Wisconsin goes red I think it's lights out for Barack Obama."FULL POST

(CNN) – First lady Michelle Obama is still a popular figure in the United States, according to a new poll of Americans released Wednesday.

The Gallup survey indicated the first lady has a 66% favorable rating, unchanged from two years ago and consistent with the figures she received when her husband, Barack Obama, was sworn in as president.FULL POST

(CNN) – Planned Parenthood Action Fund unveiled an advertising campaign Wednesday in swing states painting Mitt Romney as the wrong choice for women, a critical voting bloc in the battle for the White House.

Backed by $1.4 million, the spot will run on broadcast and cable television in West Palm Beach, Florida, Des Moines, Iowa, northern Virginia and Washington, D.C., according to the political arm of the women's health care organization.FULL POST

“I think you know without getting into the campaign rhetoric of what he’s asserting, I think you’ve got 50 nations in NATO that agree to a plan in Afghanistan,” Panetta said on ABC’s “This Week.” “It's the Lisbon agreement, an agreement that, you know, others, President Bush, President Obama, everyone has agreed is the direction that we go in in Afghanistan."FULL POST

“It’s given the Obama for America operation an opportunity to do the dry run we need of our massive, significant dynamic grassroots presidential campaign,” the Florida representative said of the battleground state on CNN’s “State of the Union.”FULL POST

Washington (CNN) – Rudy Giuliani, now a Mitt Romney supporter, said Sunday that he partially blames his ego for previous criticism of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

"Well, I mean, there's a certain amount of personal ego in that. At that point I was probably comparing his record to my record," Giuliani said on CNN’s "State of the Union." "That’s all part of campaigning."FULL POST